October 23, 2012 -- Cobra Biologics, the international clinical and commercial manufacturer of biologics and pharmaceuticals, announces the appointment of a new non-executive director to Cobra Biologics’ board to provide further experience in the CMO sector as Cobra continues to expand with increased capacity and a 40% increase in headcount in the last 12 months.

The appointment of John Birch, former Chief Scientific Officer for Lonza Biopharmaceuticals, as a non-executive director will provide Cobra’s board with unrivalled experience in the CMO sector. He will provide a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be hugely beneficial to the board and the company overall and will focus Cobra’s efforts to expand the service offering and capabilities.

Biography of the Non-Executive Director:

John Birch (Ph.D.) graduated in microbiology from London University where he also completed a Ph.D. After a period lecturing at the University he moved into industry, holding senior technical positions at Tate and Lyle, G.D. Searle, Celltech and Lonza. Prior to his retirement he was Chief Scientific Officer, Lonza Biopharmaceuticals. His scientific interests have focused on the production of therapeutic proteins, particularly from mammalian cells and he has published extensively in this field. In 2005 he was awarded the Donald medal by the I.Chem.E in the UK for contributions to biochemical engineering.

Peter Coleman CEO of Cobra Biologics said “I am extremely pleased that John has decided to join Cobra’s board at a very exciting time for the company and our customers. We have set ourselves ambitious expansion targets for the year and our success has meant rapid recruitment to sustain the increased number of customer projects coming through. The board and I look forward to working with John and our new employees to achieve our ambitious goals.”

Cobra Biologics is a leading international clinical and commercial manufacturer of biologics and pharmaceuticals with three GMP approved facilities. We offer a broad range of integrated and stand-alone development services, stretching from cell line development through to the commercial supply of investigational medicinal product. We take pride in manufacturing excellence and being a trusted provider, delivering what we promise and helping our customers to develop drugs for the benefit of patients. Cobra Biologics provides manufacturing solutions to the biologics and pharmaceutical industry covering antibodies, recombinant proteins, viruses, DNA, cellular therapeutics and small molecules.